The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 58 Reception
Soon someone recognized him, and Fu Juemin heard people whispering his name.

Without looking to the side, he led Cao Tian and the others straight toward the gate.

A man with a wide blue cloth belt around his waist and a melon-shaped hat quickly came forward, bowing almost ninety degrees, and greeted him solicitously: "Young Master Fu, right? Please come with me."

The guy's face was flushed, and his forehead and neck were covered in fine sweat. Heaven knows how many times he had run back and forth that night.

Fu Juemin followed the man through the gate, past the gatehouse and the sedan chair hall, and saw the front yard of the Hu family.

Although there are many flowers, plants and greenery in the yard as decorations, the old and dilapidated traces of the entire front yard can still be seen.

Fu Juemin couldn't help but recall what his second uncle, Fu Guoping, had told him: their county magistrate, Hu, was so stingy that he couldn't even afford to properly renovate his own residence. It seemed he was truly prepared to make a fortune and then leave at any time.

"Young Master Fu, this way please."

Cao Tian and his entourage stopped at the entrance hall, and all of them were directed to the backyard.

Fu Juemin followed the man into the main hall.

The main hall of the Hu family was quite spacious and grand. At this time, the entire hall had been cleaned up, with a small platform in the middle, chairs on both sides, and several long tables, which were filled with all kinds of fruits, snacks and food.

Guests were scattered throughout the hall, some sitting, some standing, while servants carrying tea and wine trays walked around the hall.

Hu Fulai had actually turned tonight's banquet into something resembling a Western-style cocktail party!

There were too many flaws, and Fu Juemin didn't know where to begin.

Shaking his head, he spotted Fu Guosheng talking to someone in the crowd and quickly walked over.

"coming."

Upon seeing Fu Juemin, Fu Guosheng nodded slightly, then pointed to a portly man with a small mustache beside him and said, "This is County Magistrate Hu."

"County Chief Hu."

Having likely met Hu Fulai before, Fu Juemin vaguely remembered the fat man before him, so he cupped his hands in greeting.

Hu Fulai smiled and looked him up and down, nodding and praising him repeatedly: "Lingjun, right? You're quite the handsome young man. It's a pity your Uncle Hu doesn't have a daughter, otherwise I would have shamelessly taken you in as my son-in-law."

Thank goodness you don't have a daughter, otherwise, if a girl looked like you, her life would be over.
Fu Juemin thought to himself that he was complaining, but he put on a humble expression and said repeatedly that Uncle Hu was joking.

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Fu Juemin tactfully walked away, found a corner to sit down, picked up a bottle of foreign liquor of unknown brand, and listlessly observed the guests in the room.

His second uncle, Fu Guoping, probably hadn't arrived yet. His stepmother, Lin Wanrong, was chatting and laughing with several women dressed similarly as wealthy ladies. His two younger sisters, being looked after by the Hu family's servants, were running around with another group of guests' children.
As Fu Juemin casually glanced at the crowd, others were also watching him, and quite a few eyes were constantly on him.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on one spot.

He saw the familiar Xu family group, Xu Shirong and his two daughters.

Xu Xinyi guessed that he had noticed him as soon as he came in, and had been staring at him. When he looked over, she immediately waved to him with a face full of joy.

Xu Xinyi put down the wine glass she was holding, lifted the hem of her skirt, and was about to run towards him when Xu Shirong stopped her. Fu Juemin watched as the radiance on Xu Xinyi's face gradually dimmed, and he became disappointed and frustrated.

Fu Juemin glanced thoughtfully at Xu Leyi, who had been quiet and didn't talk to anyone among the three.

He had previously mentioned to Fu Guosheng that he wanted to dissolve the engagement with the Xu family. Fu Guosheng neither objected nor agreed, only saying, "Wait a little longer."

They weren't waiting for Fu Juemin to change his mind; they were waiting for the right opportunity.

After all, the Fu and Xu families have been on good terms for many years, so even if the marriage doesn't go through, they still have to consider the face of both families.

So, on the surface, Xu Leyi is still Fu Juemin's fiancée, and as Xu Leyi's sister, Xu Xinyi naturally shouldn't be too close to him in this situation. "Lingjun!"

Just then, a voice called out beside me.

Fu Juemin looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man in a suit with slicked-back hair walking toward him with a smile.

Fu Juemin thought the man looked familiar, but couldn't recall his name, so he simply turned away and ignored him.

The young man, however, approached him in a friendly manner.

"I haven't seen you for over half a year. I heard you've been staying home practicing martial arts lately? And you even helped the county catch a dozen or so bandits, tsk tsk."

Fu Juemin completely ignored the young man, not even glancing at him no matter how he tried to get close to him.

The young man spoke for a while, but received no response from Fu Juemin, which made him seem somewhat embarrassed.

Suddenly, he gently patted Fu Juemin's arm, opened the inner pocket of his suit jacket to reveal a packet that looked like hand-rolled cigarettes, leaned close to Fu Juemin, and whispered mysteriously, "A novelty from the West, one puff and you'll feel like you're flying to heaven."
How about we play together?

"Go away!"

Fu Juemin immediately cursed at him with an impatient look on his face.

The young man was taken aback, then stood up with a flushed face, glaring at Fu Juemin with a somewhat unpleasant expression, and said, "Fu Juemin, I meant well... don't be ungrateful!"

Fu Juemin slowly got up. After practicing blood cultivation, his height had increased to 1.88 meters, nearly 1.9 meters.

Standing up, he was a full head taller than the young man, and under the Western-style chandelier, he seemed to cast a thick shadow over the young man's entire body.

"Don't force me to slap you in front of so many people."

Fu Juemin looked at the young man and spoke calmly.

The invisible aura of a Blood Refining Martial Artist pressed down, and the young man's face instantly turned pale, involuntarily taking a few steps back.

He didn't dare to say anything harsh afterward and turned away hastily.

Fu Juemin watched coldly as he walked to a small circle not far away, talked to a few men and women of similar age, and occasionally glanced in his direction. Then the group all walked towards the side door of the hall.

Fu Juemin squinted at the direction the group had left, then casually grabbed a servant carrying a tea tray and tossed him two silver dollars.

“Go tell Mr. Zhou, the owner of Huafeng Cloth Shop, that his son was hiding in the garden smoking opium and set the Hu County Magistrate’s house on fire.”

After giving his instructions, Fu Juemin lazily sat down. A moment later, he saw a middle-aged man in the crowd with a livid face leading his men hurriedly toward the side door.

Fu Juemin laughed happily to himself. After this incident, he should be able to cut off all the bad influences left over from his predecessor.

He sat in the corner of the hall, repeatedly turning away several groups of wealthy young ladies who took the initiative to strike up a conversation. He waited and waited, but his second uncle, Fu Guoping, did not arrive. He had no one to talk to or relieve his boredom, so he simply left the banquet hall and asked someone to call Cao Tian from the backyard to go outside for some fresh air.

As night deepened and the city lights began to illuminate the night, the darkness gradually dissipated.

Fu Juemin and Cao Tian strolled aimlessly along the main street in front of the Luanhe County Government Office.

They hadn't walked far when they suddenly heard Cao Tian stop.

Fu Juemin turned his head and saw Su Hui, dressed in a purple embroidered cheongsam, walking gracefully towards him under the lanterns specially hung outside the Hu residence, her figure bathed in the soft light, like a lotus just beginning to bloom in the night.

"Young Master Fu."

(End of this chapter)